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Umpires helped us a lot. Oscar was VAFA in the first half but All Australian in the second. Fitting that Watts kicked the sealer, an excellent goal at that. Tyson does himself no favours. Team selection still wrong despite the win. On a personal note, Mini Bizkit was born a few days ago, bought her membership last night so today she was our good luck charm.

Spent the first half with loud mouth Pies' supporters giving it to Watts. When he kicked the sealer in the last me and my mate turned around stuck it right up them. Absolute ripper

Favourite moment: Watts sealer was all class and very poetic. The look on his face after he kicked it was priceless. It was like it eradicated years of pain. Really pleased for him.

New respect for Oscar best game yet well done Oscar!!!!

Just saw Dave Misson smiling, repeat, Dave Misson smiling.

Hahahahaha, was waiting for the negative on Tyson. He was the ONLY mid making any difference at all in the first half and was very good in the second half. Yes a couple of his kicks didn't end up where hoped but they were quick kicks out of congestion. Glad to see you didn't disappoint with your bias on him!

No 4 goes alright.... Was that the sealer he kicked to win the game? And the touched ball on the line to save the game? I think so

Full credit to the Dees supporters at the ground today. A few (deserved) boos for Howe but none for Lynden Dunn, and they even gave him a standing ovation for his courage when he went off towards the end. Good respect shown to a loyal servant of our club.

To all those in this thread going on about the umpiring I recommend you go back and watch these moments: Early last qtr Collingwood (Howe?) player takes possession at the top of our goalsquare runs, does a don't argue, gets tackled, tries to kick, misses ball, definite holding the ball to Melbourne, not paid, certain goal missed. Treloar taken by Viney in a tackle drops ball on ground, no disposal, HTB missed, picked up by Collingwood goes inside for Collingwood goal. Levi Greenwood drops a mark in the centre square, not infringed, tackled properly by Viney, ball heading forward for Melbourne, either the dropped mark or a free paid and a FIFTY paid to Collingwood. Pies score when Dees would've had a certain score. First quarter Watts taken out in a marking contest on the Wing, pies player takes the ball while Scharenberg barrels him over with what looked like a tackle in a marking contest without his eyes on the ball. Pies goal, no free for Melbourne. There were many other holding the ball frees missed for us, soft high tackles paid to them at crucial moments and many other moments. The Hibberd and Hunt ones should've been HTB, but they missed plenty to us as well. Also both managed to hit the ball so the argument is whether they threw it first and that has barely been paid for 5 weeks. Should've been HTB and we got the rub of the green on those two but so did they, many times, especially in the first half. It was a magnificent gutsy win and to claim the umpires won it for us is ludicrous. great game Dees! Being on Gawn, Hogan and the doggies!!! Edit: Not to mention Oscar perfectly bodying a contested mark on the wing to have it reversed then a pies player does the exact same thing in our forward fifty.. NO FREE!!

Given the history, wasn't it a wonderful thing to see Jack Watts ice the cake today? Bye bye Bucks !!

Not really BBO. I'm getting the silent treatment. Husband is a bit sulky. My daughter and I however are very happy. ❤️?

Doesn't happen often!!

The noise of the crowd in those final minutes was just incredible. And the anticipation of watching Watts run the length of the ground, and then the ecstasy when he calmly slotted it, is everything I love about sport and football.

I feel I will be in the minority here, but I'm liking what Buggy brings to the side at the minute. He is a deceptively good mark, he puts on some pressure at ground level AND he knows how to hit the scoreboard. Granted, he has wasted opportunities over the last month, but I think that will improve for him over the coming weeks. He is offering more than guys like Kent, JKH and even Harmes, at the minute and I think he deserves to keep his spot going forward.

Nice stat time: Jeremy Howe has played in nine Melbourne v Collingwood games for ONE win.

Hannan, shame he misses the goal. Would've been a big time play. Great to see the Dees fans on their feet clapping him off the ground. He was a good servant of the club and another I'd put into the "we failed them" category. I'm glad he's got a second wind with the Pies, but even happier he didn't celebrate a win today!

That is Jack Watts, I assume? Re Jack Watts, not bad effort given he played on a bad ankle and went off in the 1st quarter with a back problem which he carried thru the game. Hopefully no-one pots him for lacking courage...

Overplayed. Collingwood supporters were whinging about everything plenty went their way too. We ground out a tough win with no ruckman and no key forward. That was a bloody great win. Knew we would come back after being 5 goals down just wasn't sure if we'd given them too much of a head start or not. Bloody proud of this team, can't wait til Gawn and Hogan are back. GO THE MIGHTY [censored] DEMONS!!!!

With Gawn likely back next week and Spencer already back, lets have a look what happened with Pedders filling in as first ruck - We went 4-2 with the two losses being very close He averaged 16 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, 15 hitouts and kicked 8 goals in the 6 games Battled hard despite giving away roughly 10 cms and 10 kg each week to his opponent Pedders, we salute you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nah I let everyone know about "typical Howe mark of the year then turns it over" I was absolutely surrounded by ferals in the AFL members today, one threatened to hit me, another elderly gent was cracking the sads on the way out having a go at me while I belted out the song at the top of my lungs. Took me back to the good ol days.

I sat behind the interchange bench today. After Watts kicked that great goal time on in last qtr, he ran to the bench. Mission waved him away and indicated to go to the backline. 2 minutes later he made a crucial save touching the ball on the line. In a 4 point victory he literally saved us in the dying minutes - twice.

Hannan here was a little underrated. He was sop important in the 3rd and 4th in pressure acts and score involvements. Won me over today.

Jack Watts, take a damn bow!

All I've got in me is this: I [censored] LOVE this footy club! We are NEVER out of it and shame on anyone who thinks we are! DEMONS!!

Was watching at the ground today with an Essendon fan who used to work at the Bombers in the 80's and 90's. He made an interesting comment about Oscar. He said his development curve is very similar to a former Bomber premiership player in Kevin Walsh. Gifted games early in his career because Sheedy saw something in him; lampooned and ridiculed by fans for his first three or four seasons; by the time he hit about 50-60 games he was really finding his feet. Ended up a dual premiership player, multiple state player and All Australian. I think Oscar showed today in the second half that he can be a very good AFL player.

Great win. I have not missed seeing a QB match live for years but had to this weekend as i had to go away for a basketball tournament. Got back just in time to watch it on TV. I never go on DL during a match, usually because i'm at the game, but stupidly did so today at the end of the fist quarter, albeit very briefly. Predicable bagging of Omac for his two errors blind clearing the ball with rushed kicks from deep inside 50 (on his left foot both times interestingly). No mention at all of his other excellent defensive efforts in the quarter. An i wonder if there were comments about the defensive errors by Salem and Frost x 2 that cost us goals. Or the woeful kick inside 50 by Trac that cost us an easy goal. Or later in the game the three other times in the game we blindly kicked it from deep inside our 50 (Jones, Lewis and someone else) that didn't come back purely because of luck (one of those times because of a brilliant spoil from TMac halved a contest he should have lost) I had to laugh because at one point Omac took a defensive pack mark and one of the bone headed commentators said it 'fell it into his lap'. Not geez, he read it well, unlike the other players flying for it. I wondered if DL had somehow infiltrated the commentary box such was the obvious confirmation bias. Omac was excellent today. As i have said many times i acknowledge his weaknesses but some of the comments on this site about him not being up to AFL standard, wouldn't get a game in any other team, woeful, etc etc are so of the mark they border on weird. As i have also said many times the coaching team keep picking him and that can only mean one thing. They rate him. Actually two things. Those that say he should not be in the side because he is not up to it are wrong. Plain wrong. They had the opportunity to drop him this week by bringing in Spencer (or Wagner for that matter). Many argued they should have. A season defining game with a top 8 position on the line. With only one big forward in the magpie side. But they didn't. What does that say about how highly they rate OMac? And OMac repaid that faith and proved his knockers wrong. And by by the by may he miss next week because he hurt his abductor near the end of the 3rd or near the start of the last and played the rest of the game under severe duress.

Thats four straight wins vs the Filth now. The shoes on the other foot after they dominated us for years.

Proud we didn't boo Dunny. Always liked him.

Watts goal was bloody brilliant. It was at the end of the game, he just ran 150m and then steadied on an angle and GOALED. U $$:$::)/)/$&; beauty. Well done son.

On train going past Collingwood carriage just burst into spontaneous round of "It's a grand old flag" Hilarious :-D

We finally won a close one! On the G no less! Hooray! 6th on the ladder means we are above Ess (who have played an extra game) and above the Bulldogs... ...and we play the Bulldogs next week - HUGE GAME!

Dear All, I don't post these days, but am highly entertained by this site, and rumours of my death are somewhat exaggerated. I am pleased to see TGR has survived all the death threats over all the years. I did dispatch the Benalla bikies some years ago to end his career, but they got distracted by some good-looking women in Clonbinane. It may be fake news, but I have read that the Russians have paid Trump to send Special Forces personnel to protect TGR from harm, and Demonland gets a dollar for every TGR post from the Russian foreign aid budget. As a teenager in 1964 watching Hassa Mann miss from point-blank range, and the hulk Gabilich wander down the ground with no Demon in pursuit, I was crying too hard to see Crompton kick the winning goal to deliver our last premiership, but I watched it many times on the replay. His opponent (as back-pocket) would have been one of the Collingwood rovers, Norman or Bone, but they are nowhere in sight on the replay. The players all had day jobs back then, and match fitness and forward-line pressure had not been invented. Lots of the guys had a smoke at three-quarter time. My ticker did not skip a beat in '64, but I nearly had a heart attack today, and it was just a home-and-away game. Can we start a petition to the players? Win big or lose big, but no more close games please or the baby boomers might die. Regards to old friends and old enemies. Steely glare for TGR. Rollo

Some weeks ago, I wrote something on one of these Gameday threads to the effect that I would really like to see Melbourne get off to a big start and then maintain that momentum for a full four quarters. It hasn't happened all year. I thought about that post on Saturday night when I was out at dinner with friends and I caught my first sight of the score in the game between Essendon and Port Adelaide. It was during the first quarter and the scoreline read: "Essendon 40 Port Adelaide 1" My first thought was - UNREAL - that never happens with us (at least not with us being in front). Perhaps, it might happen on the day we celebrate Her Majesty's birthday because, like everything else that's happening in this round of football, it seems the prospect is so unreal (after all, her real birthday is 21 April). Let's do something unreal today.

Wasn't at the game, but thought it was class from our fans to give Dunny a standing ovation as he came from the field after a pretty courageous act. Well done to all.

Absolutely. There's a lot Jack does that I don't think the average fan notices. I have a feeling it was against the Gold Coast last year where he kicked the goal to get us in front and then took the contested mark in defence at the end. Riewoldt is a fantastic player, but I feel that he's emulating Nick's style of football with great athleticism. His shot for goal he hit the post with came after big time running. Credit to the Seven commentator (can't remember who) but he called it because of his hard running, and when he had a shot where didn't have to run so hard for he nailed it. In fact I noticed when he kicked that goal in the 3rd he was really trying to gee up with teammates. I think there's a lot of love for Jack at the club.

A few notes from the stats: Jack Watts also laid 4 tackles today. Plus the efforts at both ends of the Ground. Everyone is excited with the return of Jesse, but having Watts as the 2nd or 3rd tall forward will be the big bonus , with Tracc as the biggest small fwd, we have got the icing on the cake. Love Hannan's endeavour OMac 2nd half in particular was great. Evn in the first half a lot of mistakes made by others get overlooked or get labelled onto OMac. Showed a lot og mental guts today. TMac only took 1 mark today, so the wuicker we get him out of the ruck the better we will become. This not to downgrade his effort in the ruck where he operated as a huge midfielder rather than as a ruckman. Grundy was close to best on ground today because he gave the C'wood midfielders a free ride in the 1st half but Tom's bullocking efforts around the sdtoppagers enabled our mids to get back into the game. If only Jayden Hunt lowered his eyes , because opposition sides have their pants down when he carried the ball into the 50m area. Just needs to assess his options better. See Point 1 above. Nathan Jones will retire as one of the best players NEVER to have been an AA purely because he is not fashionable. If ever a player has been loyal to MFC, he has. Well done. Jordan Lewis provides structure. Stats wise today was not one of his brightest, but he knows the areas to cover and marshalls people very well. We need the old blokes in Nathan, Bernie, Jordan and Cam to let our younger brigade play an exciting brand of footy. Today's game was a terrific contest which ever way you look at it.

Just so happy for JackW.....wasnt it 8 years ago today he was ragdolled.....? Constantly booed all day, god knows why. ....Stuck right up em Jack!

I just got back for the game. Can't wait to read the game day thread.

O Macs saving mark in defensive 50 late in the game was awesome. Cant believe that was the same player that was so bad in the first quarter, he was very good after half time.

Umps helped us in the end.

EPIC EPIC EPIC Thats the win we have been waiting for folks. We have turned the corner, and it will only get better and better from here.

I read some have different views. My view is that this is the most important games for us since 2006 semi final. If we win we turn at 6 and 5 in 6th place. With Gawn, Hogan (our two most important players) shortly back we set ourselves up not just for finals but a tilt at a top 4 finish. Shall we lose, we again fail when favourites, this time coming off a 16 day break. Our opponents have played twice since we beat Gold Coast and have lost 3 of their best players in last weekends stirling victory over Carlton. This will be hard for them to cover. We will be 5 and 6 in 11th place, with mental issues that will be difficult to overcome this season. It will be highly unlikely we make finals. Confidence is everything in this game. As its been said it is indeed 90% between the ears. This is a game we must win!

I'm exhausted (mentally drained), damn hoarse and very proud to be a Demon tonight. The drive back to Canberra tomorrow will be sweet.

Did a great job on Pendlebury and kicked important goal. Watch the game.

Anyone saying Bugg was poor today, wow...

Omac went from playing like Tom Gillies in the 1st half to Matty Scarlett in the 2nd half. What a turn around, i was very critical of him. Harmes and Jetta won some critical one on ones that got it going forward for us. Tracca loves a big stage as does Watts. How many times has Watts kicked clutch goals in close games??

I think we are a better side with Lewis in the side even when he plays a stinker.

Same. I wont recount what I screamed as Watts ran in to kick that final goal today but I can assure you it was a cathartic moment that has been 8 years coming since I watched him get ragdolled on debut. Now we just need to bury Collingwood in a grand final and for me the circle will be complete.

Great post. Oscar just didn't use the numbers around him in the first half and gave it back. Good 2nd half. Tyson's game had everything; toughness, composure, skill. Loved his game. No ruckman. A lot of our players down or average. Good win.

Cometh the hour cometh the Jack. Still some obvious flaws in the team but at 6-5 with Hogan and Gawn to come back in, you couldn't ask for much more.